Portal:Horses

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The Horses Portal

Horse and foal

The horse (Equus ferus caballus) is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature, close to Eohippus, into the large, single-toed animal of today. Humans began domesticating horses around 4000 BCE, and their domestication is believed to have been widespread by 3000 BCE. Horses in the subspecies caballus are domesticated, although some domesticated populations live in the wild as feral horses. These feral populations are not true wild horses, which are horses that never have been domesticated and historically linked to the megafauna category of species. There is an extensive, specialized vocabulary used to describe equine-related concepts, covering everything from anatomy to life stages, size, colors, markings, breeds, locomotion, and behavior.

Horses are adapted to run, allowing them to quickly escape predators, and possess a good sense of balance and a strong fight-or-flight response. Related to this need to flee from predators in the wild is an unusual trait: horses are able to sleep both standing up and lying down, with younger horses tending to sleep significantly more than adults. Female horses, called mares, carry their young for approximately 11 months and a young horse, called a foal, can stand and run shortly following birth. Most domesticated horses begin training under a saddle or in a harness between the ages of two and four. They reach full adult development by age five, and have an average lifespan of between 25 and 30 years.

Horse breeds are loosely divided into three categories based on general temperament: spirited "hot bloods" with speed and endurance; "cold bloods", such as draft horses and some ponies, suitable for slow, heavy work; and "warmbloods", developed from crosses between hot bloods and cold bloods, often focusing on creating breeds for specific riding purposes, particularly in Europe. There are more than 300 breeds of horse in the world today, developed for many different uses. (Full article...)

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Depiction of Sleipnir in a detail on the Tjängvide image stone.

In Norse mythology, Sleipnir /ˈsleɪpnɪər/ (Old Norse: [ˈslɛipnez̠]; "slippy" or "the slipper") is an eight-legged horse ridden by Odin. Sleipnir is attested in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the Prose Edda, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson. In both sources, Sleipnir is Odin's steed, is the child of Loki and Svaðilfari, is described as the best of all horses, and is sometimes ridden to the location of Hel. The Prose Edda contains extended information regarding the circumstances of Sleipnir's birth, and details that he is grey in color.

Sleipnir is also mentioned in a riddle found in the 13th century legendary saga Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks, in the 13th-century legendary saga Völsunga saga as the ancestor of the horse Grani, and book I of Gesta Danorum, written in the 12th century by Saxo Grammaticus, contains an episode considered by many scholars to involve Sleipnir. Sleipnir is generally accepted as depicted on two 8th century Gotlandic image stones: the Tjängvide image stone and the Ardre VIII image stone. (Full article...)
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Credit: Ralf Roletschek

A farmer plowing with horses. The plough (American spelling: plow) is a tool used in farming for initial cultivation of soil in preparation for sowing seed or planting. It has been a basic instrument for most of recorded history, and represents one of the major advances in agriculture.

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Entries here consist of Good and Featured articles, which meet a core set of high editorial standards.
Florida Cracker Horse in the Paynes Prairie State Preserve

The Florida Cracker Horse is a critically endangered horse breed from the state of Florida in the United States. It is genetically and physically similar to many other Spanish-style horses, especially those from the Spanish Colonial horse group, including the Banker horse of North Carolina, and the Carolina Marsh Tacky of South Carolina.

The Florida Cracker is a gaited breed known for its agility and speed. The Spanish first brought horses to Florida with their expeditions in the early 16th century; as colonial settlement progressed, they used the horses for herding cattle. These horses developed into the Florida Cracker type seen today, and continued to be used by Florida cowboys (known as "crackers") until the 1930s. (Full article...)

Did you know (auto-generated)

  • ... that when surrounded at the Battle of Oroscopa Carthaginian troops killed their horses and burnt their wooden shields to cook them?
  • ... that the fungal infection conidiobolomycosis mainly affects people living in tropical areas but was first reported in horses in Texas?
  • ... that when built in the 1880s, London's Hesper Mews was home to servants, stables, and horses, but within a century it was populated by artists, military officers, and an Astronomer Royal?
  • ... that the 6-ton (6.1-tonne) Pilgrims' Cross, high on Holcombe Moor, England, was dragged up there with difficulty by 14 horses?
  • ... that in Ryūnosuke Akutagawa's retelling of the Tang dynasty short story "Du Zichun", a son grieves for his mother who has been reborn as a horse?
  • ... that racehorse Tipperary Tim won the 1928 Grand National at odds of 100-1?

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